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Have car-and-truck loving kids? We hear you. (Or well, we hear them playing in the background.) Read on for what to watch when you just can’t view Cars, I Dig Dirt, or one of those tedious Hard Hat Harry videos one more time.
Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks
Meteor is a young moon buggy (with monster truck wheels, natch) who can’t wait to become a full-fledged expeditionary rover in outer space one day. This half-hour CGI-animated show follows Meteor and his pals (including Junkboy, a monster truck-style garbage truck; Jose, a monster truck-style fire engine; Little Tow – well, you get the idea) as they go offroading, hang at the local car wash, and learn how to perfect their monster truck moves at the aptly-named Crushington Park School. Positive messages – like, don’t judge a rooter truck by how she smells – abound.
(3-6 years)
Recommended by Kids FIRST!
Check out Meteor’s rockin’ credit sequence. We’re guessing this is the type of music actually played at monster truck shows?
Auto B. Good
This little show has won an impressive five Emmys in animation, children’s programming, musical composition and audio production, but no one’s ever heard of it. We’re guessing that’s because it’s marketed as a “character development series” and used to supplement curriculum in over 2,500 schools across the country. Ah. But while the adventures of nine autos living in the off County Road B in the State of Good (get it?) can be slightly heavy-handed and cliché (Cali, the pink convertible, speaks like a Valley Girl, in the most obvious example), the animation is truly stunning. And while each story aims to teach a value like courage or respectfulness, we haven’t found a kid yet who found it pedantic.
(6-9 years)
View a clip of Auto B. Good here.
Extreme Engineering
If your tween doesn’t have a need for speed but, rather, slow and steady construction machines, we’ve got a suggestion: Extreme Engineering, a documentary-style look into the world of large-scale engineering projects, which features lots and lots of Really Big Construction Machines at Work. Math, science, history, and, occasionally, dynamite-fueled explosions come into play. Our favorite ep explored the idea of a futuristic tunnel stretching 3,100 miles between New York and London. If ever built under the Atlantic Ocean, a magnetically levitated train would take passengers from one city to the other. In only fifty-four minutes. At 5,000 mph. And who says TV stifles children’s imaginations?
(9-11 years)
Recommended by Common Sense Media
In case you need more convincing, catch a glimpse of that cool tunnel.
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